Rome, October 21 (IANS). The birth rate in Italy is continuously falling. The national statistics bureau ISTAT on Tuesday told the story of the decline in figures.
Italy’s birth rate is expected to fall further this year to a historically low level, deepening the country’s demographic crisis, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
Only 370,000 newborns were born last year, the lowest since the unification of Italy in 1861. There was a decline in these figures for the 16th consecutive year. This negative trend continued in the first seven months of 2025, with about 198,000 newborns born, 6.3 percent less than the same period in 2024, ISTAT said in a statement.
The agency further reported that the fertility rate, which measures the average number of children born to each woman of reproductive age, fell to 1.13 in January-July, down from a record low of 1.18 last year.
Italy’s chronically falling birth rate is being considered a national emergency. Prime Minister Georgia Maloney and her predecessors claimed strong policy to address this, but despite this, it has made no difference.
Meloni said halting Italy’s declining birth rate is an “absolute priority” and his government has introduced tax breaks for working mothers, according to news agency ANSA.
In a separate report on Tuesday, ISTAT said the country’s workforce will age in the coming years. It has been claimed that by 2050, the share of people in the 55-64 age group working or looking for work will increase from 61 percent last year to 70 percent, while in the 65-74 age group it will increase from 11 percent to 16 percent.
–IANS
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